and the type is not quite as good and it's becoming a regular but they did their best. both sides were trying to support their side of the war. they were part of the overall liberal effort. >> an interesting observation that i made in the production of this book was that the quality of the american newspapers kind of deteriorates. the quality of the paper the newspapers were printed on tends to deteriorate or seems significantly of less quality in the middle of the war. so if you flip through the book and you look, you can see in 1777 through about 1780, the quality of the paper is less than you would find before the war starts and at the end of the war. but, to your point about the fast ship, and other interesting tidbit that i read in a 1766

london chronicle was the issue in which they announce the repeal of the stamp act and one of the ways that the stamp that, or one of the causes of the repeal to the stamp act is the boycott of british goods and what that did is in essence, it made the london merchants become american lobbyists lobbying parliament for the repeal of the act. and so you read in the london chronicles how the london merchants were celebrating and how, as soon as the doors to parliament opened the london merchants had a commissioned ship, a light, fast ship ready to speed across the atlantic and tell the americans all their customers, that good news. >> you can stop boycotting. >> exact. [laughter] >> there was after the boston massacre, there was a brief discussion and boston town meeting. should we send the captain, a ship's captain and he said i

will carry this report to london. the boston meeting discuss this and they decided they couldn't afford it. said they didn't put their money towards that in the royal government actually sent their own report faster. so in 1775 came around i think that's one reason why the government was quite willing to spend that money because they knew they could get scooped if they didn't. >> we will continue questions downstairs with signing copies of books and certainly purchasing some copies of the books. so let's continue downstairs and ask more questions for the author and panelist bob duh and todd. >> thank you. [applause]

todd andrlik is the curator of regelin.com, for historic newspapers. >> now from miami book fair international, author james patterson talked about the value of families reading together. he also responded to questions from the audience. it's about 45 minutes. >> thank you all for making this remarkable week that we have had so far. is hard to believe that is sunday and we have more going on, including this very very special event which is very special to me personally. as it is james patterson that gave me cues through college and you'll understand in a minute. "time" magazine has hailed james patterson is the man you can't

miss while "the new york times magazine" on its cover proclaims him as having had transformed publishing in here is why. he holds the guinness record for the most number one "new york times" bestsellers of any author ever. in 2011 it was estimated that one in four of all hardcover suspense thriller novels sold was written by mr. patterson. selling over 300 million copies of his books worldwide. that is 300 million copies. he is also the first author to achieve 5 million e-book sales that by now it's probably a 10 million as we are sitting here in this room. what is really impressive about all this though is that the successes this success isn't based solely on his thrillers like the ever popular alex cross, women's murder club and michael bennett's series. he is now also the current best-selling author of the young adult and middle grade

categories. it's not just about his sense either. he has won the coveted edgar award, the b.c. mystery guild thriller of the year award the international thriller of the year award, the reader's digest readers choice award and the children's choice book councils children's choice award, author of the year award. i got through that. [laughter] it has been said of james patterson and his work, no writer has ever created so many lasting characters are grasped the interlocking power of plot and emotion. he pours forth stories that engross, may soon move readers. at the same time that they plumb the emotions we all live with, the power of love, family, friendship, the pressure of work, the endeavor -- inevitability of death, the meaning meaning of that in the presence of evil. it's a mortal stuff wrapped inside the highest level of

entertainment. i couldn't agree more and as a bookseller i'm struck at how easy it would be for james patterson to sit back and rest on all his laurels, but instead, he garners the gratitude and respect from all of us who love the literary life and care deeply about how we can develop the next generation of readers. with his prodigious work over the past decade and championing books and reading, from the james patterson page-turner awards to his web site readkiddoread.com, to his scholarships and his regular donations to hundreds or thousands of thousands of books to troops overseas, he has passed on his passionate books and reading and supports those who'd do the same. and a widely hailed message written for cnn.com he presented a call to action, imploring parents to become active participants in changing the reading habits of their kids. on a personal note, when we

receive the news that james patterson would be with us at the miami book fair this year, i was more than thrilled. but i was also not surprised that his primary reason for coming was not to promote his books, but instead he wanted to make this session celebrating the notion of family reading. that is what we are going to do this morning. mr. patterson is going to come out and say some words and then we are going to sit down and engage in a bit of a conversation but then we are also going to take questions from the audience so i hope you all have those wheels spinning and start thinking about some questions that you might have. if you're young, don't be intimidated. come right on the as i know you'd love to hear lessons from you too. please give a really, really warm, warm miami and miami book fair welcome to mr. james patterson. [applause]

[applause] >> hi. i am steven king. [laughter] as i was walking in here, this lady said, you look much taller in your on your book jacket photos. [laughter] that's my boy, jack. came home from prep school yesterday. it was devastating when he went away. where have you been my blue-eyed son? ♪ what i want to talk about today is something kind of close to my heart which is the power of stories, and the way stories can affect the world, the way stories can change things for the better and just the power. a writer friend of mine was walking on park avenue in new york city and the past a blind man who had a sign that read, please help me, i'm blind.

my friend just kind of walked by the man but then he stopped, and he saw that this guy only had a couple of coins in his hat. so he dropped in a couple of quarters. and then he asked to make a little rewrite, to just change the story a little bit for this guy, which he did. later in the afternoon, he came back and he asked the guy again, and the hat was full of coins in some bills. you stop he stopped and talked to the guy and he said i've never had a day quite like this. you have to tell me what you wrote. how did you change my story? my friend said, he said i just added a couple of ford's and he wrote, please help me, i am blind and it's framed. it just is the whole story for the guy. we all have a story. maybe a couple of stories of

people use to describe us. our families have a story about who we are to them and usually or often they involve in the name that we don't particularly care for. my father used to call me skippy. i have no idea why to this day. and we also have -- who do we have any kids hear? we all have a story we are known by in school as well. we have stories that we are known by in our jobs. sometimes just a couple of lines. the stories can either push us forward are the stories can hold us back. you know i think for a while, miami had some stories to tell miami back in now miami has some stories that are moving it forward. and even you now, our self-image is, our persona is, they are just stories that we tell about ourselves or that other people tell about us. about a year ago i met the actor

and director, tyler perry, and tyler actually a couple of years ago he bought airline headquarters in atlanta and he needed to film all his tv shows in his movies. one of the amazing things about tyler and his story is that in 1998, tyler perry was homeless. tyler perry's seriously changed his story. i have kind of an unusual story myself. i was born in a small river town on the hudson, newburgh new york, and when i was growing up look singh called it the all-american city. at that time,, we had kind of an inner-city but then we had a lot of farm kids and there was an air force base. it was inner-city and farm kids and kids would have been around so was an interesting place to grow up. earlier on, my father grew up in

the newburgh poorhouse. it was called the poggi. my father's mother was a charwoman which meant she cleaned the bathrooms for the other poor people and they got a room there. that was our background and that is why i feel i should be the next president of the united states. [laughter] [applause] anyway, i have been poor and i have been middle-class and then i was poor again and then i was middle-class again and now i am kind of rich. [laughter] and i must admit that rich is better. but i still believe that the satisfaction in our lives resides -- revolves more around who we are at the core and i think it's mostly that we get comfortable in our own skin. it never happens unfortunately,

i am the best-selling author of the world. i have sold 300 million books but i am not terribly impressed without. i had a birthday party a few years ago and i had some of my best friends the one all the way back to grammar school. they said, you know you were still the same that you always were. and i like that. i thought that was good that i hadn't changed that much. i would have preferred that they said you have evolved and become a little bit more dull thud to me the important thing is mrs. has and then jack's dad. and every day i try to do the best i can and some days it even works. here is a story about working for a list living and how balancing our work in our families which is something most of us are always trying to do. in this story, once again the power story, you imagine life is

a game in which you are juggling five walls in the air, and you call the work, family, health, friends and charity. somehow you were keeping them all in the air which is a struggle as you all know. and maybe at some point you understand it he realized that work is a rubber ball and if you bounce it, if you drop it believe it or not if i'll actually bounce back. but the other four, family, health, friends and charity are made of glass and if you drop one of them, they are going to be scuffed or marked or next or maybe even shattered and they will never be the same again and you will never get them back. and i think that once we get that image in our heads or that idea or the concept in our heads, we strive for more balance in our lives. i certainly have tried to do that.

nowadays most of the books i read her fiction and i specially enjoyed writing books for kids. my publisher thinks that my kids books are the best that i write. a couple of years ago as mitch was saying, he has a great voice, doesn't he? i love it. it was nominated for this author of the year of the children's choice book award, and at that point jack was 12 and he said, don't get me wrong dad, i really like your books but rick riordan is going to win. [laughter] so jack and i and my wife and i went up to the awards and i won and jack jumped out of his chair and then i went up on the stage and i told a story about how jack thought rick riordan was going to win. but then i held up the award and i said, this is for you, jack. i knew he always had that memory for the rest of his life but going to new york with his dad in his mom and his dad saying this award is for use of that

was a very cool moment for all of us. jack is kind of a born storyteller and he wrote and illustrated his first novel called death of the butterfly catcher. in his story, the butterfly catcher gets on a plane and travels halfway around the world and doesn't catch a butterfly. then he gets on a boat that travels the rest of the world to catch a butterfly and then he gets on a train. jack loves trains. he catches the butterfly. the train stops and is getting off the train and not really looking and gets hit via train going the other way. death of the butterfly catcher, butterfly flies away. so he has got it, the beginning, the end, the title and the whole ball of wax. i love to write. i'm very passionate about it. but the main reason i write books for kids and i have a bunch here, about kids who fly

and hopefully universal is going going to make a movie. they have a script and have a great producer. who knows? writes them a letter, that's universal studios. an amusement park ride where you can fly. who would want to go on that? and in middle school the worst years of my life. if you have kids, or grandkids or nieces or whatever, it's a really good series for kids. i would say maybe 7013 or so. it's funny and they are illustrated and i'm really proud of those books. and then this december i have another book that is sort of middle school age called i'm funny. it's also illustrated and it's about a kid who decides he wants to be a stand-up comedian so he memorizes like every choke in the history of mankind and he studies every comedian and it's a pretty fun book. but the reason i write books for

kids is, you know, as individuals, as individuals we can't solve the health care crisis crisis and we can't solve global weird thing or whatever is going on, but we can get our kids reading. we can do that. and i try to write books that kids will love and that are also good for kids and there's always something going on in my books. hofer leave the kids, it will turn a little something in their brains on and i think it's important that parents get into their heads and i think i have it in my head now, it's not the school's job to go and find books for your kids. it's not the school's job. [applause] it's your job. it's my job. it's our job. to go and find books for kids. your kids don't need another cell phone or their first cell phone.

they need books. they really need books. [applause] and the nice thing is books are free at the library. how cool is that? and books are available at stores like books & books, in coral gables. is that where it is? [applause] and they are available -- though you should go to the bookstore. i have this sight. i don't sell books but i have this site called readkiddoread.com and that's a good place to go just to sort of -- there are hundreds of books on there and they are in each category. there are only books that are going to turn your kids on, not to drugs but to reading. parents, to mail the time and they say i can't get my kids reading, and i say you know with all due respect do you get them to the dinnertable? you have to make it a rule in your house.

meade in our house. we read in our house. we read in our house. that is the coolest thing. because, if your kids can't read well, if they can't read well, high school is going to be a lot tougher than it needs to be. whatever, science, history, it's all going to be harder. maybe you can get through math without reading and maybe not. with the kids can't read well, some of them will not get through high school. if your kids can't read well, their choices and opportunities in life will be limited. they're not going to have as many choices. but the cool thing about books, the really terrific thing is that there are so many really good books out there for them to read. right here the at the book fair, there are a lot of looks that really absolutely -- to your kids. "harry potter," a turkic series, wimpy kids, terrific illustrations. books about sports.

fine, if you have boys let them read anything. comic books, great, graphic novels, sports, almanacs certainly, cook books, why not? as long as they are reading because they will get better at it. who love soccer? yeah would love soccer. are you better now? how come? we play a lot. the same with reading. if you read more, you get better at it and it gets each year. you read better books. you have something that -- so i would love you all to get that into your head, that notion we read in our house. it's really cool. your kids see you reading, that's nice but the most important thing is they have got to folks. they have to actually read the darned things. when jack was eight, sue and i

that summer and the holidays are another good time though, the three are for weeks they have. that summer we cede to jack your going to read every day and he said do i have to? we said well, yeah. and less want to sleep in the garage. but we are going to go out and find cool books for you so we went out and got the warrior series and regelin time. by the end of the summer, jack who is a bright guy but was not a big reader and a good-looking kid to. his mother must be very pretty. by the end of the summer, he had read a dozen books, about nine of them he he really liked a lot in his reading skills went through the roof. he went from eight years old where he didn't particularly like to read to when he took his s.a.t.'s which they take, he got 800 reading which is the highest score you can get. so that is what can happen.

it doesn't matter whether they get 800 or go to harvard or vanderbilt but it's important to get through high school and import that they have options when they get out. so yeah. where are you? -- come on that. we are going to shoot the breeze and what happened with that movie etc., etc.. [applause] >> i think you cannot tell why we have a master storyteller in a room, just by hearing the stories that he tells. i love that. i think we need to create this throughout the country. we read in our house. i think that is probably one of the most brilliant taglines that i've heard in a long long time, don't you with a? [applause] i think buttons, we should begin that is the yes we can.

and i read that cnn.com that you said you wrote in that was really inspired at the bookseller. our missions are very much, very similar in creating the next generation of readers. you gave some pitch to some parents but is there a way to boil them down to three main important things that they can remember? >> read in our house can be one. what other tips might parents get? >> you know it's anything goes to be honest. if you don't read, you will see a lot of parents who pass on something like. i don't mind if my kid stays up later if they are reading. that's okay. yeah, they read until 11:00, so be it. there are worse things to do in life than that. obviously you know, seeing the parents read is helpful. you know one of the biggest things is just don't be biased

about what kinds of books. it just doesn't matter right now. just read, read, read. honestly i had a ph.d. program at vanderbilt but i started with comic books and that was what got me turned on. a lot of the great scientist started with science fiction. that is what turned on the lightbulb. lightbulb. and then it goes from there. >> that's absolutely right and i know that boys particularly, they tend to be big readers early on and around the age of eight day began to sort of diminish their reading. >> i think you can hold them through 11 or 12. that is when it gets tricky with boys but at least if they read well there is hope and they may pick it up later that they may get distracted. some don't but a lot of them get distracted. the key thing is that they developed the ability to read well. >> i also know that this reading

initiative, that you have -- i know there are teachers out there as well and that you have have -- >> those are the ones that are clapping saying it's not the schools job. >> there are programs within the school that you acknowledge that are really quite great. i happen to see her walking in, my fourth grade teacher is here. now mrs. harris, and i remember when i was in school it just dawned on me they did something they don't they don't anymore. you know the safety patrol? when i was in elementary school they had him dumping call the library patrolled and i got a button and they put me in the library patrol and you can take a ribbing from everybody else in terms of that. see one of the programs has been drop everything and read. one period period every day or several days a week. everybody reads and i think that's a great one.

the school in washington which is very successful about turning around inner-city kids and the kids enough school have to carry around a book at all times which i think is kind of neat. you mentioned that i did a reading at my hometown, and my second grade teacher was there. she is like 92 years old and i was signing books. she leaned over my shoulder and she said james, your handwriting is still atrocious. [laughter] >> the that's great. talk a little bit about where you see our culture going. you are doing what you can do. in terms of reading, are we creating a culture of readers, of nonreaders? where are we right now? >> well i think the worst thing that is happening right now is we are creating a culture where people don't listen to. they don't listen to the other

side. there is a quote that i read in an editorial in "the new york times" a couple of weeks ago. it had to do with morality ability to bind and blind, and you know, it lines people. you believe in whatever you believe one way or the other or whatever you believe about entitlements or whatever you believe about local warming. but you are incapable of seeing the other side at all. any validity outside and you take that into congress and both sides just sit there and they want banned and see the other sides side's point of view. nothing happens. and anger that comes out of that. a lot of people are running around so angry because they just have this, well this is what i think. there is no other way other than my way.

>> it's funny i think reading and particularly reading about other people's lives, there's a tolerance as well. >> absolutely. that is the great thing about books right now more than any other medium that we have. television -- television is getting better interestingly. movies, i mean it's a lot of the same things, same hollywood, cops are bad, delinquents are good. mobsters are good, whatever. is kind of crazy but books are the one place where there is such a variety. as you say you can see other points of view and other ways of looking at the world. what is really going on? there's a terrific book about afghanistan called the forever war. and if you read up book, you get it. or at lease you certainly get a

really good point of view on what's going on over there. >> i think agree with you more and i also think that what is happening in terms of getting that selection, what most people don't realize is there are hundreds of thousand books printed each year and unique guides in order to find those books. i'm curious to know what you think and how the world of the library and bookstore, how that plays into that and how it involves a? >> clearly it's evolving. they're going to be many more people reading on tablets and whatever. that is a done deal. it has happened. i think the horrifying thing right now is it's happened so fast and nobody has taken responsibility for how do we make that transition in a sensible way? how do we continue to get the kind of advice that we can get at doak stores, in libraries and

how do we keep that alive? i am doing an essay right now which has to do with who is going to save our books? who is going to save our libraries in their bookstores? who is going to be responsible for finding the authors who have created the great american books of the last 100 years? and in this thing it lists about 50 books, so it's right, who's going to do that? is amazon going to do that? seriously, is doing that in the same thing with the internet. if we take all of the magazines and networks out of journalism ultimately, right now a lot of these blogs, they are just picking stuff out of newspapers. who's going to pay for the journalist and he's going to pay for the reporter's? how are we going to get information?

nobody is sort of taking that to the next level. >> any answers that you might've thought about? >> i think a piece of it is, think the people who are at the head of this thing can take more responsibility. i think amazon, they really need to get in and take more responsibility for what happens to books in this country. and i think, it would be nice, i would love to see the president first lady, whatever, i like it the first lady is out there reminding us that it's good to exercise and not overheat, which is a huge issue but i would like to see you know more in washington. who is protecting books? in europe, the you protect books. they protect bookstores and they protect libraries and they protect books and that is good. germany is ridiculous. germany, netherlands, scandinavia, they really do protected because they know that

is the basis of a culture. that is the basis of civilization and i don't know that is happening here. and i'm not sure what is going to happen. i don't know that it's going to happen in this state. it could, it could. >> thank you for raising that. in france right now they are actually giving grants to endangered bookshops in order for them to keep going. they realize that the culture of has transferred through books. >> the interesting thing here is that doesn't even come up. up. it just doesn't even come up in the discussion which is not. i did a book with lisa bartman who is a very popular writer from sweden. i went over there for three days in stockholm and we did almost 50 interviews with newspapers and magazines. if you write a book here, you can find journalists. is there a journalist tear? god bless you two. but it's interesting, there's

there is a difference in the cultures. sweden has a million people. her books sell over 1 million copies in the country with 8 million people. >> amazing. along those lines, tell us a little bit about, some of you in miami know there was this thing called world book night and mr. patterson is now the cochairperson with van patchett of the 2013 world book sight. do you want to talk a little bit about that? >> yeah, as far as i know this started in england and it's very effective in england because the government got involved in addition to all the booksellers and it really got well organized, to the point where basically every kid in the country gets a little bit of money to go in and buy a book and the bookstores sort of you know, price them in a nice way. this won't be as big yet but i think we are giving away half a million books, so it's a start.

and once again, what we really need more than anything else is for the government to wake up for the various governments whether it's going to be -- whether you are states person or a federal person, it's got to be dealt with somewhere. and education, the same thing. i mean we are not figuring it out right for some reason. >> on a personal note, were you a strong leader when you were a kid? >> i was a strong reader and i it was a very good student but i was not a big reader. i grew up on comic books. >> wended the book things start? >> the book thing, and i was a very good student but the book thing really happened a little bit by accident. i worked my way through school at a mental hospital outside of cambridge massachusetts, and i worked a lot of night shifts. i just started reading like crazy.

it was all serious stuff. at that point i wasn't interested in commercial, and i've read everything i can get my hands on. then i started scribbling and i loved it. i just loved writing stories. >> in for the kids out here, i am sure a lot of them are wondering this and i will try to ask the question and then we will turn it over to the audience. of all of your characters, which ones do you think you most are like? >> i think i'm most like alex. we are both african-american. [laughter] no, i think there is a sense of family that is so strong with him and he's very compassionate. and he is a problem solver. he is a character i identify with the most. >> and the movie thing? >> the movie thing. look, you take your shots.

the interesting thing about the movie is a god really clobbered by a lot of critics but then they do pull some people believe the that leave the movie theater and a cot in a. you give it perspective. cloud atlas going to c. flight got an a- so my best friend called up and he and his wife which is gone to the movie. he said we really liked it and that he said i've got to tell you, i read the review in "the new york times" and i was afraid to go. so there is something. if i was going to write a fair review i would say it is a flawed movie that is sillier than it needed to be but it's very entertaining. >> i think we would all agree. the first part of that was really entertaining and i'm sure some of you out there --

a question that i thought of. if you could live inside the world of one of your books for a week, which would you choose and how come? >> if i could t. for a week guaranteed that i could come back, maximum ride, flying around for a week. >> oh yeah, wow. >> the thing about the kids in maximum ride they are at the tractable. >> what is your favorite part of being an author and also the question is what's the most amazing thing you have seen or done because you are a writer? >> i don't know. some of you say you are lucky if you find something you like to do in your life, which is true. it isn't the easiest thing and it's a miracle if someone will pay you to do it. i once saw people --

you don't retire from play. so i don't work for a living. i play for a living. >> and we are glad that you do. we are going to go to the floor for questions. >> don't be afraid. come right up to the mic. >> i would like the kids to come right up to. speak into the microphone as well. >> so you guys made this graphic novel which is really cool and you started during the regular novel and i really enjoyed it and everything but my main question is are you ever going to do another daniel x or graphic novel? is that in in the plans or anything? >> i started with it as a book series and the graphic novel came a little later. i don't know. actually it is not a daniel x book. i think it's in the stores now or it's close called zoo. check it out if you are in the store. just take a peek and see if you like it but i think it's a

pretty cool graphic novel. >> all right, thanks. >> you are welcome. >> hi. yesterday we heard a gentleman by the name of michael sandel and he spoke to us about what money can't buy, the moral value of the market. he was giving us an example of -- they were offering the kids a dollar or $2 to read a book, and then he asked the audience how they felt about it. it was about 50/50 that thought it was a great idea, it was not a good idea at all and i was wondering what you thought of that idea and if you read about it? >> i haven't, but i think creativity is what is needed to

get kids reading. there is a was a woman i read about featured in texas and she has a bob of book club for boys. they just read a lot of gross books but the kids love it. they call themselves up when they make fun of themselves but they read. she doesn't, i mean my first instinct is i would hope that would be the last thing you'd have to do. but i can't say i'm against it but maybe there is a more imaginative way. the key is not really that they read a book. the key is that they build a habit so that they continue to read stuff. it's not enough just to read one book. >> thank you. >> i have two questions actually. the first one is, what inspired you to write -- >> what inspired me was that my wife takes a gazillion pictures. there is one. we have these books full of

pictures of jack when he was a baby or whatever. we were older parents, and it struck me that it would e. sad one day for jack to be reading or looking at this book of all his pictures and we weren't around any more. and then for some reason it hit me how devastating it would need if we were looking at the pictures and he wasn't around. that is where the book came from. >> also, i'm from west palm beach and i know you have spoken to several of the schools. how can we get you there are? >> little brown. you can contact them. i am doing some middle schools in west palm beach now, jfk. >> actually one of the students at my school is now at the

school i work in. i work in a library. >> okay, well. the school of the arts there, i saw their holiday concert was mind-boggling, the music and we are actually going to do it at the cravitt center this week. we paid to have it in there so that's going to be spectacular. yes, maam, sir, somebody. hi. >> the book middle school -- >> the bring the mic down to you. >> in the book middle school, the worst years of my life. [inaudible] >> lets not get into this because this is hard to imagine or believe that not everybody in the room has actually read the book yet.

so i don't want to give away. if you are around at the book signing -- though we will talk about it privately. >> okay. also, -- >> but don't give away what happens in the book. i will have to come strangle you. [laughter] >> also, when did you first -- and what was it? >> the i wrote the first book and i published it when i was 26, about 10 years ago. i was very lucky. to get turned down by 31 publishers and then when edgar has the best person, figure it out. okay, thanks. ..